1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an automatic vending machine for vending canned or bottled commodities, and particularly to an automatic vending machine that efficiently accommodates canned or bottled commodities.
2. Description of the Prior Art
An automatic vending machine usually incorporates a plurality of long vertical racks for horizontally storing commodities such as canned beverages. Each of the racks has an upper charging port for charging the commodities into the rack and a lower discharge path for discharging the commodities out of the rack. The discharge path has a feed mechanism for feeding the commodities such as canned beverages one by one.
Commodities of the same kind are dropped through the upper charging port of one of the racks one by one and stored therein in a single line. Namely, the storage capacity of the rack is determined by the vertical size of the rack.
To increase the storage capacity of the rack, the rack may be vertically extended. This, however, cannot be done freely because the vertical size is restricted by various conditions. The conventional rack structure of the automatic vending machine, therefore, is not efficient in accommodating a large quantity of commodities, and commodities which are popular are quickly sold out and must be frequently replenished. This requires great men-hours.